May 25

Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind. Breathe on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choicest fruits. — Song 4:16 BSB

Most of us are weighed down by the chains of time and sense, the cares of life and daily work, the frailties of our earthly bodies, the responsibilities of family, and the miserable carnality of our fallen nature. As a result, we live a poor, struggling, and dying life.

We take no pleasure in the world, nor can we engage in its pursuits and amusements with a clear conscience. Many of us are worn down by trials and afflictions, bearing a daily cross and constantly plagued by the evil in our own hearts. We find little consolation from the family of God or from outward means of grace. We know ourselves well enough to recognize that in ourselves there is neither help nor hope, and we have no expectations that tomorrow will bring a smoother path or that our hearts will suddenly become holier or more steadfast than they are today.

As the weary long for rest, the hungry for food, the thirsty for drink, and the sick for health, so do we stretch out our hearts and arms, longing to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ and to truly experience union and communion with Him. From Him come both our prayers and their answers, both our hunger and the food that satisfies. He gives us both the desire and the tree of life. He reveals the evil and misery of sin so that we may seek pardon in His bleeding wounds and pierced side. He shows us our nakedness and shame, exposing us to God’s wrath, so that we might hide ourselves under His justifying robe. He makes the world’s choicest pleasures taste bitter, so that we may find sweetness only in Him. He allows us to fast long, so that even a crumb becomes precious, and keeps us waiting long, so that a single word from Him becomes invaluable.

He desires our whole heart and will take no less. Since we cannot give it of our own strength, He draws it to Himself, captivating it with a single glance of His eye, with one chain of His love. If we love Him, it is because He first loved us; and if we seek communion with Him, it is because He has chosen to manifest Himself to us as He does not to the world.

If we wish to see what the Holy Spirit has revealed about this communion, we find it most clearly and experientially in the Song of Solomon. From the opening verse, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,” to the closing plea of the bride, “Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices,” the entire book is a “song of loves.” It reveals the divine communion that takes place on earth between Christ and His Church. She is described as “coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved,” while “his left hand is under her head, and his right hand embraces her.” She humbly says, “Do not stare at me because I am dark,” but He replies, “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” At one moment, she laments, “By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not,” but soon after, she joyfully exclaims, “I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go.”

This back-and-forth of seeking and finding, sighing and singing, self-reproach and self-reflection, complaints about self and praises for Him, the breathings of love and the flames of jealousy, the tender affections of a devoted heart and the condescending embraces of a royal spouse—all of this is the experience of the Christian seeking and enjoying communion with Christ, as beautifully expressed in this divine book.